“An easy ride out to Bartlett Lake with some climbing” is how it was described. Not quite. We rolled out under perfect blue skies again and headed for the lake. 8km uphill to start, and the 20km downhill before turning back and doing it in reverse.

The downhill had the most climbing of any descent I’ve done. It was tough and I did a 20 minute stretch of 310 watts. On a downhill. Yikes!

As I neared the bottom a very large bug hit me square in the right lens of my glasses. At 65km/h my glasses won but it was shocking.

At the bottom took some photos before starting the return climb. Ouch. It was tough. And my lack of fitness and extra weight were an issue. Eventually we all made it to the top and began the easy rollback to the resort. Another fun ride in the books.

After a terrific lunch at the resort we headed out for a hike up Black Mountain. This mountain dominates the Carefree/Cave Creek “skyline”. An hour up, sweating like crazy, some pics at the top, and a super quick descent. Near the bottom Bjug spotted a Gila Monster. It was huge and very cool to see.

In the evening we went to Bryan’s BBQ. Yummy.

And as all adults do, we went to bed at 8:51pm. It was a tiring day.

Posted in ECC